when surveillance is used to enforce stereotypical norms, to fix genders, to make people be other than they wish to be, it becomes something beyond surveillance, beyond mere invasion of privacy, it becomes the will of the state, the will of the community enforced upon the individuals or groups it wishes to repress, suppress, or otherwise control. when surveillance move toward social and political control, and away from mere safety, we have truly given up our freedoms.

HS’s have some legitimate reasoning behind banning PDA. As long as their enforcement of it is applied equally and stated up front (so kids know if they break school code, their parents will find out about it), then I am more accepting of this policy. The cameras simply are an extension of the parental eye, and the kids are aware of it. If the kids were treated differently simply because it was a girl/girl kiss, and they did not know this video may be shown to their parents, then this is clearly wrong on the school’s part to do this.

[…] Jeremy Hunsinger points to this disturbing report about how a dean of students at a Washington high school thought he saw two girls kissing, so he checked the school’s surveillance footage to confirm it. He then proceeded to share what he saw with the parents of one of the girls, who pulled her out of school, and fueled a major controversy. […]

Not only is this ok and the right thing for the parents to have been notified for the sake and well being of the child parent relationship but school officials should be Imusized. To think that they would have such knowledge and with hold it from unsuspecting parents is horrifying. What happens at school stays at school. I would imagine that every lesbian is pissed right now but you would be wiser to focus on your own kids relationships and ensure that they grow up healthy. No matter what the choice of the child is ultimately in life it should be a healthy choice with proper moral guidance from the people who love them most thier parents. A public school that would consiously with hold information about a child like this should be untrusted with our children; they apologized for not with holding the information. How backwards have we become?

focus on your own kids relationships and ensure that they grow up healthy.

Hear hear! And this school in washington feels as strongly as you do about this; that’s why they’re sending all that video of kids smoking on the back porch to the parents of those kids. Because health is Very Important. Also, all the straight kids kissing and groping each other in the halls? Their parents are getting video in the mail too, of course; in fact, there’s a constant stream of videos going back to parents from this noble high school administration. It’s practically in the porn business! It’s not just the gay kids whose parents get the special surveillance video. Surely not. This isn’t about homophobia, it’s about health! They even have a few upskirt cams just to make sure the girls are keeping their underpants on! Hey, if you’re doing what you’re supposed to, you have nothing to hide!

I really think there’s a better answer, though; parents should hook their children up with wearable computers and watch them 24-7. Teenagers are their parents’ property, after all, and parents have a right to make sure their kids grow up up to be exactly the way they want them to be. Sure, it might be a bit time-consuming to watch constant video of your 15 year old chewing on a pencil and picking his nose, but it’s worth it if you can make sure the kid grows up straighthealthy. It’s just like using a baby monitor! And it’s good preparation, because future employers and the government will surely want to watch him at all times too!

Yes, I think this surveillance culture is on its way to creating a healthy, well-adjusted society.

I think we need more cameras… in schools in the US. And in all other places in the US. It would have two advantages… they could be hacked and broadcast on the net for our enjoyment and given enough invasive surveillance people might actually take some collective action against it. I guess I’m a little tired of all this, but if the US can’t stand up and defend its own collective civil rights, I begin to wonder if they think they have any right to them.

I have sympathy for the two victims. Contempt for the misuse of the abuse of the security system in that school… and this is abuse. And a general sense of sadness over the willingness for people to think this sort of invasion is a good thing.

I think this is absolutely terrible. There are hundreds of students out there that kiss in the halls, yet they start this whole thing just because of two girls.

I agree that the children should be watched, but that’s taking it too far. You don’t need to report things like affection. The only things that should be reported are if your child’s being bullied, or if they’re the one doing it, or fights.

I don’t understand why they think they have the right to watch our children and report on every little thing that doesn’t appeal to them.

I think the point is, have the cameras caught a couple, boy and girl, kissing, would the parents be notified??? Most likely not cuz that is the norm for the principal, unlike two girls kissing is unacceptable to him so he told the parents. He realised that he was being hypocritical in telling the parents that their daughter may be a lesbian. Again, would he have called the parents if they had been boy and girl?

The realy sad thing is that the girl is pulled out of the school for kissing another girl. I mean, if the parents are so frigging afraid of their daughter becoming a lesbian, and don’t care about their girls feelings, is just plain idiotic. It wouldn’t harm her at all.

Besides, don’t worry, dear citisenc of USA, you are already beeing watched. It’s about a quarter of the soviet surveilance.

Ops, I shouldn’t have written that. Now the foregin department of the US kidnaps me, and our government shushes the media and jails my family. Bad for diplomacy if that kind of stuff got out…

Someone stated that teenagers are their parent property. In the way the law works this may be somewhat true, but is think of your children as your property really show you as a good parent? Anyone can have a child, there are no rules, regulations, or any type of official document for having a child. Any two bozo’s in the back of a van can have a child. So should these children’s parents be notified? You all say that this is good for their safety. A lot of children’s parents are abusive. More than you’d imagine in your perfect little bubble. So just because you feel you should know because you can tell your children the right thing to do, don’t think this is every parents goal. There is a good chance that telling that girls parents could have got her hit. Congratulations on your ignorance. Think about the whole picture before you cut out and show off your little piece of it.

Wow… this goes way beyong surveilance! This is a privacy violation! How can the dean share something like that with parents? In my opinion, this dean was probably a pervert who enjoyed the site, but felt bad about his perversions, so he did what he thought was the right thing- he told somebody! This is pathetic, and privacy is becoming less and less available on a daily basis!

Ok seriously what is with the US Government and spying on people, more so on people they think might be gay, or Queer as they might call them, or fags or what not, the bottom like is, the Dean had no right to try and supposedly fix the girls “Damaged” Sexual preference, because for one thing, what if her parents are gay beating homophobes who would beat their own offspring just because they found out they were gay, its the same as expelling the child just because they found out the kid was a member of the furry fandom and thought was into cartoon animals having sex, and accused him/her of every stereotype that the media has spawned about furries and how they are all freaks who wear fursuits and Yiff random people, its no different then what is going on here, because surveillance is supposed to help report bullying and fights, not Public Displays of Affection, even if its between people of the same sex, what has the world come to where couples can’t even kiss and hug eachother without worrying it will get caught on video and sent to their parents, are kids not allowed to be loved anymore, for one thing, how are they supposed to find the mr/mrs right if they are not allowed to practice during their teenage years, this will only result in sexually frustrated adults who don’t know how to approach the ones they love, the men will see a girl he likes, but will not know how to love and could become abusive, both physically and sexually. The women on the other hand, they will learn that men are all jerks/pigs/Neanderthals and are only interested in sex, what the woman wants means nothing to him, all he supposedly cares about is his genitalia and fulfilling his own desire for sexual pleasure, and not giving a damn if the woman is enjoying what he is doing to her or not, seriously, is this how the US government wants the youths of America to grow up, to be Royally screwed up in the relationship department, because if this keeps up, this may very well become reality.